Spelt Berry and Black Rice Risotto

These are the first carrots of the season from Mike & Ruth's Organic Farm, Willow Grove Gardens.  I just couldn't resist these characters.  They probably grew in some hard soil.  I saw nothing but personality.  They became an important part of our Spelt Berry and Black Rice Risotto.

It's starting to look like summer on the farmer's tables. We're starting to get some vegetables more and more each weekend at the market.  I got some great beets this weekend, which I roasted and tossed with some honey, fresh orange juice, and a bit of ginger.  I tossed in some pine nuts I had soaked and dehydrated last week. I don't think we got a picture of that yet.  We'll probably get one when one of us has lunch this week.

I also picked up a couple more Marigolds, and Celosia flowers for the garden.

Spelt Berries, Black Rice, and Fresh Vegetable Risotto

The carrots were a wonderful addition to this original concoction.  I'm still not sure whether it's stew or risotto.  But, it's more like a risotto, so I'm, sticking with that for now. I didn't know what I was going to make, I just wanted some wheat berries.  I have some sprouted already, but I wanted some cooked berries this week too. I set two cups of spelt berries to soak early Saturday morning, they were ready to cook by the time I got home from the farmer's market.

I cut up a couple fresh Walla Walla onions, some fresh garlic tops, a shallot, a red bell pepper, and the fresh carrots I just picked up.  Sautéed all of them together in some avocado oil, until the onions were just tender  I got the cold pressed avocado oil on a trip through the liquidation store on Friday.  I have found an occasional trip through one of those local stores, saves some money on the cooking supplies. I have to go when I have some time to walk slowly through the isles. Nothing is ever the same or in the same place.  It's like a treasure hunt.

While the vegetables were sautéeing, I added a dash of sea salt, fresh ground black pepper, a couple sprigs of thyme and some fresh rosemary.  Then added the soaked and drained spelt berries.   I let them brown just a couple minutes before adding four cups of low sodium organic vegetable broth.  I added about a cup of Forbidden black rice and two yellow zucchini squash, peeled and chopped into 1 inch chunks.  I brough this all to a gentle boil and then simmered for about 45 minutes.